The Department of Health and Family Services was an
Australian government
The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...
department
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
that existed between March 1996 and October 1998.
The Department was created after the
1996 federal election in which a new Government was elected, gaining responsibility for the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program from the former
Department of Housing and Regional Development
The Department of Housing and Regional Development was an Australian government department that existed between March 1994 and March 1996.
History
The department was created by the Keating government on 25 March 1994, divi ...
.
Scope
Information about the department's functions and/or government funding allocation could be found in the
Administrative Arrangements Orders, the annual Portfolio Budget Statements, in the Department's annual reports and on the Department's website.
According to the Administrative Arrangements Order (AAO) made on 11 March 1996, the Department dealt with:
*Services for the aged, people with disabilities and families with children
*Community support services
*Public health and medical research
*Health promotion and disease prevention
*Primary health care of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
*Pharmaceutical benefits
*Health benefits schemes
*Specific health services, including human quarantine
*National drug abuse strategy
*Regulation of quality of therapeutic goods
Structure
The Department was an
Australian Public Service
The Australian Public Service (APS) is the federal civil service of the Commonwealth of Australia responsible for the public administration, public policy, and public services of the departments and executive and statutory agencies of the G ...
department, staffed by officials who were responsible to the Minister.
The Secretary of the Department was Andrew Podger.
[
]
References
Ministries established in 1996
Health and Family Services
1996 establishments in Australia
1998 disestablishments in Australia
{{Australia-gov-stub